New rules to prevent misuse of passports issued to foreigners in Denmark

Suspected misuse of passports issued by the Immigration Service can now result in foreign nationals losing their right to hold a travel document for up to five years.

The Immigration Service can issue a travel document to certain foreign nationals living in Denmark, such as refugees and individuals who cannot obtain a passport or other form of travel document from the authorities in their home country.

If Danish authorities suspect an individual of misusing a travel document issued by the Immigration Service, the document can be taken away and the individual barred from holding an alien’s travel document for a period of five years.

The rule stems from a law passed by the Folketing on 20 February 2018 that takes effect on 1 March 2018.

The rule permits the Immigration Service to refuse to issue a travel document if it suspects that it will be misused. This would likely be the case if, for example, the individual had previously been issued multiple replacement travel documents within a period of a few years. The Immigration Service can also refuse to issue a travel document if doing so is deemed a potential risk to national security or public order.

If the Immigration Service uses the new rule to refuse to issue a travel document, the foreign national will be barred from holding an alien’s passport for a period of five years, unless special considerations apply.

The rule change also gives the Immigration Service the authority to block a passport if the individual it was issued to:

holds a Danish travel document and a national passport, and refuses to deposit one of them, or